President Joseph Fielding Smith taught the following concerning the work of salvation for the dead:
“All
those who did not have an opportunity here to receive it, who there
repent and receive the gospel, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom
of God. The Savior inaugurated this great work when he went and preached to the spirits held in prison, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh (or in other words, according to the principles of the gospel) and then live according to God in the spirit, through their repentance and acceptance of the mission of Jesus Christ who died for them” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 2:132–33).
Regarding the preaching of the gospel in the spirit world, President Lorenzo Snow taught:
“When
the Gospel is preached to the spirits in prison, the success attending
that preaching will be far greater than that attending the preaching of
our Elders in this life. I believe there will be very few indeed of
those spirits who will not gladly receive the Gospel when it is carried
to them. The circumstances there will be a thousand times more
favorable” (“Discourse by President Lorenzo Snow,” Millennial Star, Jan. 22, 1894, 50).
